Plastic bag construction

ABSTRACT

An embodiment of the invention disclosed herein comprises a plastic bag construction having tie portions formed as an integral part of the bag which are used to close the top of the bag when filled. The bag is formed of a flattened flexible plastic tube having front and back panels and folded in portions extending along the side edges of the panels. A weld is formed along the bottom edges of the panels to close the bag and a weld is formed along the top edges of the panels to hold together the front and back panel portions which form the tie portions. A struck out portion is formed through the front and back panels near the top edges thereof and the material between the struck out portion and the top edges of the panels will form the integral tie portions.

United States Patent [19] Christie [451 Nov. 27, 1973 3,480,198 11/1969Repko ..229/62X Primary Examiner-George E. Lowrance AssistantExaminerStephen P. Garbe Attorney-Roy H. Olson et al.

[5 7] ABSTRACT tions formed as an integral part of the bag which areused to close the top of the bag when filled. The bag is formed of aflattened flexible plastic tube having front and back panels and foldedin portions extending along the side edges of the panels. A weld isformed along the bottom edges of the panels to close the bag and a weldis formed along the top edges of the panels to hold together the frontand back panel portions which form the tie portions. A struck outportion is formed through the front and back panels near the top edgesthereof and the material between the struck out portion and the topedges of-the panels will form the integral tie portions. I

7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates generally to a bag construction and more particularly to. a onepiece plastic bag construction which has tie portions formed as anintegral part thereof.

The use of plastic bags for refuse and storage of particular materialsis becoming more prevalent. Such plastic bags provide a simple andinexpensive means for sealing the material contained therein againstmoisture and/or vermin such as rats. In many cities such plastic refusebags are required to be used for the disposal of garbage. This was madenecessary because of the large rat populations and it, is attempted toreduce this large rat population by reducing or eliminating supply ofgarbage upon which the rats feed. When using plastic bags as garbagecontainers, they must be sealed or tied off at their upper ends to beeffective.

Several prior art bags provide either tear-off portions formed on thebag to'be used as a tie or they provide a wire tie which is eitherloosely supplied or removably fastened to the exterior of the plasticbag whichis removed for tying the top end. While this type of tie iseffective in initially closing off the bag, it becomes a questionablematter when, for some reason, the bag is to be reopened and againsealed. When'this is the case, many times the tie will become broken orlost and subsequent closing of the bag cannot be accomplished. In thisinstance rodent control is defeated.

SUMMARY OF'TI-IE INVENTION.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedplastic bag for use as a refuse bag which has tie portions formed as anintegral part of the bag to tie off the top end thereof.

- Another object of this invention is to provide an improved plastic bagwhich has. tie portions extending along the top edge of the bag fromside to side the full width thereof but which, when separated to formthe tie, will have a total length which is greater than the width of thebag.

A feature of the bag construction of this invention is that a struck outportion at the top end of the bag not only forms the tie portions forthe bag but also passes through the side folded in portions of the bagpanels to fonn carrying handles for the bag.

, Other objects, features and advantages will become more fully apparentfrom the following detailed description when taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals throughout thevarious views of the drawings are intended to designate similar elementsor components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of one form ofbag construction in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the bag of FIG. 1 taken along line 2--2;

FIG. 3 illustrates the bag of FIG. 1 with the tie portions separated;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an alternate bag construction in accordancewith this invention; FIG. 5 is the bag of FIG. 1 shown with the tieportions separated;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of still another alternate form of bagConstruction in accordance with this invention which has tie portionshaving an effective length I greater than the width of the bag;

FIG. 7 shows the bag of FIG. 6 with the tie portions separated; and p IFIG. 8 shows a bag of the invention with an upper end thereof tied offand sealed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS Referring now toFIG. 1, a bag construction of this invention is illustrated anddesignated generally by reference numeral 10. The bag 10 is formed of aflattened flexible plastic tube of any suitable material such as, forexample, polyethylene. The plastic material forming the bag is to bereadily heat sealable to facilitate mass production with conventionalequipment.

The bag 10 has front and back panels 12 and 14, respectively, which areheat sealed together along their. bottom edges by a weld l5. Folded inportions 16 and 18 are provided to increase the volume of the bag whenused, as best seen in FIG. 2. A struck out portion 20 is formed at theupper end of the bag slightly spaced from the top edges thereof to forma tie portion 22. In this instance the tie portion 22 has a tear line 24formed substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bag. Also,the struck out portion 20 has a transverse extent sufficient to engagewith and cut through the innermost edges of the folded in portions 16and 18 to thereby form handles for the bag in a manner to be described.A weld 26 is formed across the top edges of the bag to seal together thefront and back panel portions which are used to fonn the tie portion 22.Therefore, the welded condition of the upper end of the'bag togetherwith the cut through condition of the folded in portions 16 and 18 formthe carrying handles of the bag to facilitate transporting a filled bagprior to tying off the upper end thereof.

I The bag 10, as seen in FIG. 3, has the upper tie portion 22 thereofseparated into two tie portions 22a and 22b. These tie portions are thenreadily manually manipulated to close the bag by a knot 30, as best seenin FIG. 8. 1

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an alternate form of bag construction and isdesignated generally by reference numeral 10a. Here the struck outportion 20 is circular-in configuration and is designated by referencenumeral 20a. The struck out portion 20a also has a maximum transverseextent sufficient to cut through the folded in portions of the bag toform carrying handles for the bag. The tie portion 22 is severable alongthe tear line 24 in the same manner as the bag 10 of FIG. 1 and is shownin this severed condition in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, still another form of bag construction isshown and designated by reference numeral 10b. Here the struck outportion 20b is rectangular in configuration and passes through thefolded in portions 16 and 18 to form carrying handles as mentionedabove. Most advantageously, a tie portion 32 is formed at the upper endof the bagand has a diagonally displaced tear line 34 formedsubstantially centrally of What has been described is a simple bagconstruction wherein tie portions are formed as an integral part of thebag and which tie portions can be formed to have an effective lengthgreater than the width of the bag which forms the tie portions. Althoughonly three embodiments of this invention are illustrated herein, it willbe understood that variations and modifications may be effected withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts disclosed andclaimed herein.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A bag construction composed of weldable sheet material in the form ofa flattened flexible plastic tube having front and back panels andfolded in portions extending along the side edge of said panels, a weldformed along the bottom edges of said panels and said folded in portionsto form a closed bottom for the bag, a struck out portion through bothfront and back panels near the top edges thereof but spaced therefromsufficient to form a tie portion extending across the top of the bag,said struck out portion passing through the innermost portions of saidfolded in portions to form diametrically opposed handles for the bag,and a tear line formed through said tie portion to allow pulling apartthereof into two lengths to be tied together for closing off the top ofthe bag so formed.

2. The bag construction of claim 1 further including a weld formed alongthe top edges of said front and back panels and said folded in portionsto hold together the front and back panel portions forming said tieportion.

3. The bag construction of claim 1 wherein said struck out portion isrectangular in configuration.

4. The bag construction of claim 1 wherein said struck out portion iscircular in configuration.

5. The bag construction of claim 1 wherein said tear line is parallel tothe longitudinal axis of said bag.

6. The bag construction of claim 1 wherein said tear line is transverseto the longitudinal axis of said bag to provide two tie portions havinga total effective length greater than the width of the bag.

7. The bag construction of claim 1 further including a weld formed alongthe top edges of said front and back panels and said folded in portionsto hold together the front and back portions forming said tie portion,said struck out portion passing through the innermost portions of saidfolded in portions to form handles, and said tear line is transverse tothe longitudinal axis of said bag to provide two tie portions having atotal effec-' tive length greater than the width of the bag.

1. A bag construction composed of weldable sheet material in the form ofa flattened flexible plastic tube having front and back panels andfolded in portions extending along the side edge of said panels, a weldformed along the bottom edges of said panels and said folded in portionsto form a closed bottom for the bag, a struck out portion through bothfront and back panels near the top edges thereof but spaced therefromsufficient to form a tie portion extending across the top of the bag,said struck out portion passing through the innermost portions of saidfolded in portions to form diametrically opposed handles for the bag,and a tear line formed through said tie portion to allow pulling apartthereof into two lengths to be tied together for closing off the top ofthe bag so formed.
 2. The bag construction of claim 1 further includinga weld formed along the top edges of said front and back panels and saidfolded in portions to hold together the front and back panel portionsforming said tie portion.
 3. The bag construction of claim 1 whereinsaid struck out portion is rectangular in configuration.
 4. The bagconstruction of claim 1 wherein said struck out portion is circular inconfiguration.
 5. The bag construction of claim 1 wherein said tear lineis parallel to the longitudinal axis of said bag.
 6. The bagconstruction of claim 1 wherein said tear line is transverse to thelongitudinal axis of said bag to provide two tie portions having a totaleffective length greater than the width of the bag.
 7. The bagconstruction of claim 1 further including a weld formed along the topedges of said front and back panels and said folded in portions to holdtogether the front and back portions forming said tie portion, saidstruck out portion passing through the innermost portions of said foldedin portions to form handles, and said tear line is transverse to thelongitudinal axis of said bag to provide two tie portions having a totaleffective length greater than the width of the bag.